Director, Product Design

Who we are

Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations™ Cloud, which is a platform that enables organizations that depend on physical operations to harness Internet of Things (IoT) data to develop actionable insights and improve their operations. At Samsara, we are helping improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of the physical operations that power our global economy. Representing more than 40% of global GDP, these industries are the infrastructure of our planet, including agriculture, construction, field services, transportation, and manufacturing — and we are excited to help digitally transform their operations at scale.

Working at Samsara means you’ll help define the future of physical operations and be on a team that’s shaping an exciting array of product solutions, including Video-Based Safety, Vehicle Telematics, Apps and Driver Workflows, Equipment Monitoring, and Site Visibility. As part of a recently public company, you’ll have the autonomy and support to make an impact as we build for the long term.

About the role:

Samsara is looking for a Product Design Leader to manage and grow a team that creates all of Samsara’s Hardware products from concept and architecture through production. This is a director role that reports to the VP of Hardware Engineering and is based in our San Francisco HQ.

You should apply if:

• You want to impact the industries that run our world: Your efforts will result in real-world impact—helping to keep the lights on, get food into grocery stores, reduce emissions, and most importantly, ensure workers return home safely.
• You are the architect of your own career: If you put in the work, this role won’t be your last at Samsara. We set up our employees for success and have built a culture that encourages rapid career development, countless opportunities to experiment and master your craft in a hyper growth environment.
• You’re energized by our opportunity: The vision we have to digitize large sectors of the global economy requires your full focus and best efforts to bring forth creative, ambitious ideas for our customers.
• You want to be with the best: At Samsara, we win together, celebrate together and support each other. You will be surrounded by a high-calibre team that will encourage you to do your best. 

In this role, you will: 

• Lead a Team in San Francisco and in Taiwan: Develop and grow an excellent product design team with a passion for shipping terrific products to customers.
• Focus on customer experience and use cases, understand where our devices are mounted, the environment, and constraints.
• Focus on first and lasting impressions. Simplicity and quality.
• Optimize for installation. Simplify customer installation, wiring, and overall integration in vehicles and trailers.
• Demonstrate reliability against the elements, customer-specific constraints, and misuse.
• Create detailed Mechanical systems (devices, accessories, cables, packaging, labels, and user manuals) that enable us to capture data and information we send to our cloud.
• Help define the hardware roadmap and navigate the tradeoffs between performance, quality, time to market, and cost.
• Leverage and manage our JDM engineering team (specification, technical choices, debug, validation, and manufacturing).
• Develop Relationships: We partner with top tools vendors, JDM, certification, and key companies to help design, validate, certify, and manufacture our products.
• Work cross-functional with Supply chain, FW engineering, Quality, Product manager, and Project manager to execute product plans and address business needs.
• Champion quality activities across development and production.
• Research: Stay abreast of the latest technologies advancements that could be useful to our devices.
• Advance the development methodologies and processes that enable scaling the Product design team.
• Negotiate commercial terms, schedules, resources, and test plans with partners in coordination with Supply Chain leadership.
• Champion, role model, and embed Samsara’s cultural principles (Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, Win as a Team) as we scale globally and across new offices.
• Hire, develop, and lead an inclusive, engaged, and high-performing team.

Minimum requirements for the role:

• BS degree in Mechanical/Product Design Engineering or related field.
• Successful track record of 10+ years of relevant experience in product development (commercial and consumer).
• Experience building a team of engineers a